


Keeping a Delinquent Grounded

by Suzieboowrites



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Highschool/Modern day AU, Keith's POV for most of the story, M/M, Mentions of Violence, Mutual Pining, One-sided Keith/lance, Slow Burn, Socially-awkward Keith, The Galra are a gang, Voltron is a video game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-10-10
Packaged: 2018-08-17 05:16:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8131874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suzieboowrites/pseuds/Suzieboowrites
Summary: After having already been expelled from 3 different schools for insubordinate behaviour, it’s Keith’s first day at Altea High. Rebellious and aloof, he can’t seem to find a place to fit in and call home. Things start to change when he meets the head of the Student Council, Shiro, whose presence keeps Keith grounded. As things start to look hopeful for him, Keith’s past finally catches up to him and he is thrust into a sinister plot involving the notorious Galra gang.





	1. First Day

Chapter 1: First Day

Here are some things that tick Keith off.

Firstly - he doesn’t like it when people offer commentary during movies. He remembers a time when he was in 5th Grade - a blissfully relaxing year when the teacher allowed the class to watch movies every week. Unfortunately he had the luck of a gambler and got stuck in class with a certain brown-haired idiot who made it his mission to call out spoilers to every single fucking movie they watched. Keith didn’t enjoy any of the movies that he watched in 5th Grade.

Secondly - he hates it when people try to engage in useless small talk with him, especially during work at the local convenience store. He hates it even more when the customers try to flirt with him while he worked in the hopes of getting discounts or free stuff. That kind of interaction had always made him feel uncomfortable and agitated and just so goddamn self-conscious about himself. How else was he meant to respond to a comment about how nice his butt looked when he was cleaning the bottom shelves?

Lastly- he abhors physical contact of any sort. Almost any kind of physical touching causes him to either tense up or shy away.

Which is why his body now becomes stiff at the sudden shoulder contact.

“Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to join his big brother at school.”

Keith shrugs the hand off and turns around, already knowing who the disgustingly sardonic voice belonged to. He finds Lance in a green coat and cargo pants that stop at his ankles. His white socks peek out from above the blue converse shoes he’s wearing - shoes that sorely needed replacing. The brunet places his hands to his hips, wearing that same shit-eating grin that he sees him wear everywhere else. 

Keith narrows his eyes. “First of all, you’re younger than me. Secondly, you’re not my brother.”

Lance now has his whole entire arm slung around Keith’s shoulders, as if they were the best of mates. “Dude, we’re practically brother’s, you and I. Show a little respect and love. I’ve been looking after you ever since you were a kid, y’know?”

“You mean your mom has,” Keith corrects him. 

When he was younger and an unfortunate incident had left him completely parentless, Keith’s neighbour, who at the time was Lance’s family, had looked after him during his early teenage years. Lance’s mom would often visit Keith’s empty household with hot food and hand-me-down clothes that her son had quickly outgrown. Sometimes she would bring all her kids over to keep Keith company, which he had always appreciated. 

Somewhere along the way, Lance had announced a sudden rivalry with Keith, completely out of the blue and unwarranted. It wasn’t a malicious rivalry of any sort however - just a friendly brotherly rivalry that had Keith and Lance at each other’s throat most of the time. They competed over the dumbest things though - from being the fastest cereal-eater to being the quickest person to take a leak. Despite knowing that it was all just stupid - and stupidly fun - Keith was happy to have a rival of sorts. It made him motivated to prove himself a better person and to come out of his antisocial shell. Lance and his family were almost like a second family to Keith, even if they weren’t related by blood.

Lance lets go of Keith and turns towards the entrance of the building. “Come on man, I’ll show you around.”

Keith follows him through the opened doors and hallway, already taking mental notes of who to avoid. There were the obvious trouble-making students who loitered around their lockers, lighting up cigarettes behind metal doors and feeling up the asses of their girlfriends, and the jerk jocks who believed themselves to be the hottest stuff in town. They pass a group of teenage bullies that are trying to start a fight with a boy who looks like the school nerd judging from his large-rimmed glasses and the books that were scattered on the floor. One of the bullies - probably the leader - pushes the boy hard enough that he falls towards Keith’s feet. He lands with a surprised yelp. Something erupts inside Keith and, before he is able to stop his actions, he finds himself hurling words at the bully.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, asshole?!” Keith sees Lance turn around at the sudden outburst. The look on his face is practically begging for Keith to stop what he is about to do, and Keith promptly ignores it. “Is this even a fair fight - four on one? Only cowards fight in packs against someone so defenceless. It’s so unbearably typical of guys like you.”

The bully’s eye twitches. His square jaw is tight, and his lips are held in a very thin line. Clearly this was the first time anybody had spoken to him like Keith had. “Excuse me? You wanna say that again to my face?”

“Why? Didn’t get it the first time? Come here a little closer and maybe you’ll understand a bit better.”

“Keith, don’t egg them on!” Lance whispers loudly - he might as well not be whispering.

The bully takes a step forward with the intention of grabbing Keith by the collar and shoving him onto the floor but he stops dead when someone shouts his name out.

“Bradley Gordon!” Everybody turns towards the teacher that had spoken out. “What on Earth are you doing! Get to your classes now before I expel each and every one of you for insubordination!”

Bradley, now with his face lowered, immediately shuffles away from the fight. “Yes Mister Iverson. Sorry sir.” He and his group scramble away to their classes, clearly terrified of the man called Iverson. 

Another figure to be wary of. Keith sighs. He is about to help the boy up when Iverson blocks his path. His thick eyebrows scrunches towards the bridge of his nose, his face slightly marred with sweat from yelling so loudly.

“And that goes for you as well! What’s your name and class, student?”

What is this, the army? “Keith. I don’t know what class I’m in. Sir.” Keith adds sir at the end in a manner of sarcasm. Iverson doesn’t pick up on it though, thankfully.

“You don’t know what class you’re in?! Are you even from this school? I haven’t seen your face around here before.” Iverson takes something out of his pocket - a notebook maybe? - and starts to write something in it. Lance interjects as soon as he realizes what is happening.

“Wait, sir! It’s alright! Keith’s a new student. This is his first day and I’m showing him around but then there were a bunch of dudes who were -”

“What?!” Iverson exclaims, stopping almost all the other students passing by at their feet. “You’re a new student and you just tried to start a fight?! On your first day?! I’ve never heard of such insolence!”

Keith sighs audibly, causing the brows on Iverson’s forehead to lower even more. Great, I’m gonna be expelled. On my first day of school. Fuck. And just when Keith is about to get another earful from the incredibly obnoxious teacher, someone intervenes and stops Iverson from causing further headaches for Keith. They all turn towards the man who appears virtually out of nowhere.

“Wait just moment, Mister Iverson. There’s been a misunderstanding.” Keith first notices how calm and reassuring the man’s voice is. He speaks as if every word held meaning, like a commander did when he needed to assure his troops of victory. Keith then notices the smile on his face as he helps the boy with glasses up. “I was watching from the Student Council office. He wasn’t starting any fights. He was trying to stop one. Right, Pidge?”

The boy with glasses - Pidge - nods feverously. “Yes sir! He stopped them just in the nick of time! I would’ve been beaten to a pulp if it wasn’t for him! He literally just saved my life. Really.”

Both Iverson and Keith squint their eyes at the two, though for completely different reasons. Iverson is suspicious of the two, but Keith is just confused at the sudden exaggeration of what really went on. Lance, fearing the silent void meant that Iverson was still considering kicking Keith out, decides to speak up but is quickly shut down again by Iverson’s voice.

“Alright, Shirogane. I’ll let the kid off for now, but it’ll be your duty to keep him out of trouble. Understand?”

“Yes sir.” And with that, Iverson leaves the three to pick up Pidge’s books off the floor. Keith hands the last of the books to Pidge when Shirogane decides to introduce himself.

“Thanks for helping out Pidge here. I’m Takashi, but everyone here just calls me Shiro.” He offers a handshake to Keith. If it wasn’t for the smile and the warm glint in his eyes, Keith wouldn’t have been compelled to take the handshake.

“Keith.” He feels a little uncomfortable from the physical contact and exchanges looks with Lance. ‘Please be your loud and annoying self so that all the attention is diverted to you,’ Keith thinks, hoping that he and Lance share some kind of telepathic link. They don’t.

“So it’s your first day here? Welcome to Altea High. Sorry you had to witness that though,” Shiro grimaces a little before flashing that smile of his again. “If you need any help getting around the school or if you have any issues with anything, you can come by the Student Council office anytime.”

Keith mentally scoffs at the idea. He doesn’t think he’d ever need to visit the Student Council office. He hated bullies, but it’s not like he liked people who were goody-two-shoes any better. 

“What, are you like the president or something?” Keith jokes but instantly draws his lips to a line as soon as he sees Shiro’s eyes light up.

“Actually, yeah I am, and Pidge here is my secretary.”

Pidge fixes his glasses. Or her? Upon closer inspection, Keith notices that Pidge has very feminine features and a noticeable lack of an adam’s apple. Her green woolen jumper is too loose for him to recognise any obvious feminine bumps on her body so Keith’s still a little confused as to what gender she really was. Probably female. 

“That’s right. I don’t usually get into fights, mind you, but those bullies wanted to get back at me for something I did yesterday.”

“And that was…?”

“I owned them in a game of Call of Duty,” she says with a proud grin.

Keith rolls his eyes before Lance buts into the conversation. “Wait, so that was you yesterday? Aren’t those guys the reigning champions of the school or something?”

“Pft, please. They played like absolute amateurs. I could’ve beaten them with one hand.”

“Oh my god, tell me about it. The guy was just camping in the same spot for most of the end game. His friends didn’t even put up much of a fight against you either.”

“His friends were way better at shooting than him though.”

“Right??”

Keith removes himself from their conversation about a game he didn’t care much about. There were better games out there to rant and rave about anyway - a game about shooting stuff repeatedly was mind-numbingly boring to him. He turns to find that Shiro has also left the conversation and is looking down at his phone. A frown creeps onto his face as he reads whatever message was on display. Keith takes this chance to observe the taller man’s profile. 

Judging from how tightly his shirt clung to him from underneath his grey cardigan, Shiro was built. His broad shoulders were attached with the sturdiest-looking arms, and he was just so formidable-looking, especially with the way he was standing and looking so composed. Keith thinks he must be some kind of gym junkie because there was no way an average highschool student could have a body like his. 

Shiro looks up from his phone and addresses his friend. “Pidge, I'm going to head back first. Nyma’s having trouble processing a few receipts through the school server and we really need those before the first period finishes.” He turns his head then and Keith nearly gets a mini heart attack. “Do you know which class you’re in, Keith?”

“Uh, yeah.” Keith feels a little weird hearing his name spoken by someone that wasn’t Lance. Usually when someone talked to him, his name was used with disgust or spite, but the way Shiro uses his name here is so genuine. And unfamiliar. But Keith decides that he’s fine with it.

“Alright then, I’ll see you later.” Shiro leaves and then the bell rings for the first period. They all disperse and, after a hasty goodbye, Pidge goes his separate way from Keith and Lance.

\-----

The temperature begins to cool down as the day ends. Keith puts on his red jacket and starts packing his bag, chucking his books and any loose stationary into it. He feels overwhelmed and it isn’t because he has to catch up on a whole semester’s amount of theory, but because he has been interacting with people who had larger-than-life personalities. 

His homeroom and food ec teacher, Coran, for example, was a quirky guy who seemed to have picked up the habit of preening his moustache whenever he spoke to the class. Keith thought he was of Scottish descent at first because of his ginger hair, but when Coran opened his mouth, it became apparent that he was either from Australia or New Zealand. His gestures were also highly exaggerated, using a lot of hand and body movements whenever he spoke, and he was awfully loud - so loud that he could compete with Lance’s levels of obnoxiousness.

Iverson was another colourful character, but far from the positive sense. He was Keith’s history teacher and though he had already encountered him from before, Iverson still had the audacity to lecture him about his behaviour and attitude. He was a traditional man who was hell-bent on keeping everything and everyone in order. Keith thinks Iverson is better suited to work in the military and not a high school.

While zipping up his bag, Keith becomes aware of someone leaning over him, either to look into his bag or invade his personal space. Or perhaps both at the same time.

“Hey Keith, lemme introduce you to one of my good pals here.” Lance gestures with his hand towards a stocky-looking guy. He is wearing a loose yellow shirt and faded-grey jeans that almost covers his sandal-wearing feet. “This is Hunk and he’s gonna be in our group for the history assignment.”

“Hi there.” Hunk pulls out his hand to shake his but Keith just responds with a smile instead.

“Nice to meet you.”

Hunk’s hand retracts back to his hip. “So how was your first day?”

“It was fine.”

There is an awkward pause before Hunk realizes that Keith isn’t going to elaborate on his answer. “Oh, I see...not much of a talker I guess? Well, my day was good. I got to make some killer desserts in the kitchen, hacked into the school server and downloaded some cartoons - thankyou Pidge - and I sat next to my favourite girl during break. Shay even gave me some of her cookies. They were kinda rock-hard but they were made from the heart,” Hunk ends with a blissful sigh. “It was a great day today actually.”

Keith lifts an eyebrow incredulously and nods, pretending to actually give a shit about the guy’s day. He averts his attention back to Lance. “So how are we going to start this assignment anyway. We got anywhere to go to do it? Just a heads up, I have no net at my place.”

“No problemo, Lance to the rescue.” Lance huffs his chest. “We’re gonna head on over to Pidge’s place next week to work on it. Apparently according to Hunk, her net's amazing and she's got extra laptops for us to use. She’ll be cool with people hanging out at her place.”

“Sounds great. When do we meet up?”

“Dunno. Haven't actually asked if we could use her place yet.”

Of course you haven't. Keith mentally face-palmed.

“Hey, why don't we just ask her now,” Hunk suggests. “She'll be in the Student Council room at this time.”

“Alright amigo, lead the way.”

Hunk and Lance leave the classroom with Keith following a few meters behind them. He didn't really want to go but he would be lying to himself if he didn’t admit to being a little curious about the Student Council and the inner machinations. They arrive at the door and Hunk is the first to knock. Someone responds from the other side and Hunk enters the room.

“Uh, hey guys. Hope I'm not interrupting anything.”

Keith pokes his head from behind the door and is greeted by a welcoming smile from none other than the president.

“Not at all.” Shiro stops leaning against the table. “Do you need something?”

Hunk tells him that he needs to talk to Pidge who is sitting besides Shiro, face gleaming brightly from the reflection of her tablet screen. Keith stands at the door, still, observing the people in the room. He doesn’t go inside, partly because he knows that he doesn’t belong in a place like this, and partly because he doesn’t want to try and make conversation with anyone in there if he didn’t have to. He thinks he would feel obligated to speak up if Shiro looked at him with those eyes again.

Keith finds Lance now leaning over a girl with buttercup pigtails and chatting her up. He’s so obviously trying to flirt with her but judging from how fake her smile and giggling was, she isn’t at all charmed by him. From the way she composes herself and flaunts her chest, Keith knew the type of girl she was and how their manipulations of the male heart can get whatever they wanted. Keith accidentally leans a little too forward and the door creaks further open. This gets the attention of the girl with pigtails and she looks up and stares at Keith. The look on her face when she sees him is really something.

“Whatcha staring at?” Lance follows her gaze and his expression drops. “Oh, that’s Keith. Don’t worry about him. Anyway, lemme tell you the story of when I--”

“Keith?” The girl blinks twice, and Keith swears he see her face pale at the mention of his name. Before he could get another good look of her face, her expression reverts back to normal again and she continues to work on her laptop. If something about Keith’s face had spooked her, she hides it well.

“Alright, thanks Pidge. We really owe you one.” Hunk gives the small girl a pat on the back as he turns to leave. “I’ll bake some cakes for you and your brother.”

“No problems. Looking forward to them.” Pidge fixes her glasses and returns to tapping on her tablet screen, but not before giving Keith a friendly wave. “See you guys!”

Hunk gives another wave when he’s at the door, and shoots a glare at Lance’s direction. “Come on man, we’re gonna be late for the bus. I’m sure Nyma’s sick of you telling her the same boring stories over and over again anyway.”

“What?!” Lance huffs and uncrosses his arms. “She doesn’t think they’re boring! Right, my sweet?”

“Of course, Lance.” She smiles a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.

“I’ve only got the best stories to share! Like the time when I fell under the bridge and then I was surrounded by a pack of raccoons? I swear they had to be feral or something because I could see them frothing in the mouths, and their eyes like, oh my god, they were so bloodthirsty.”

“God, just stop or I’m leaving without you,” and Hunk promptly leaves the room, clearly sick and tired of the idiot’s antics. 

I can relate, Keith mentally adds. He watches Lance saunter across the room after blowing Nyma a goodbye kiss. Her gaze follows Lance until she makes eye contact with Keith again, and immediately she tips her head down to hide her expression. Keith’s certain her expression looks like something akin to disgust. Or contempt. Friendly girl, Keith sarcastically thinks. They haven’t even exchanged words yet.

“See you, Keith.”

Keith looks up, startled. He finds Shiro giving him a wave. He returns it but not before looking over his own shoulder to see whether he was waving at somebody else whose name was also coincidentally Keith.

“Keith! Are you coming or not!?” Lance hollers from the other side of the hall. Keith turns on his heels and lets the door close behind him.


	2. Noes Goes and Pizza

It’s a Saturday afternoon and Lance is sitting lazily with both his feet propped up on Pidge’s couch. He flicks through the television channels while he waits for his tea to cool down. Keith is sitting on the other end of the couch, taking advantage of Pidge’s amazingly fast internet and browsing his phone with a cold drink to his lips. He isn’t paying attention to what is on TV until Lance stops on the news channel.

 

_“- and according to multiple witnesses, the couple had exited the building when they were attacked in broad daylight. They were robbed and beaten, and their car stolen while everyone watched in shock at what transpired in front of them.”_

 

A still-image of some bad-quality camera footage comes up on the screen of a group of six hooded figures carrying a few large objects and bags.

 

_“- the Galra Gang are notorious for stealing from anyone and anything, regardless of the circumstances. Nobody is completely safe on the streets anymore - who knows when and where the next attack could be? It could very well be the next time you go shopping for groceries or even as you leave your driveway....”_

 

Keith’s phone slips out of his hand and falls into the crevice of the couch. He slips his hand through the gap and fishes for it, all while keeping his eyes glued to the TV screen.

 

_“...and while there is a rise of police forces out on the streets, it is encouraged that you stay indoors and have an adult accompany young children to school. If anyone sees anything suspicious or hears anything that is even remotely related to this group of criminals, please call the number on the screen-”_

 

“Booorring,” Lance drawls and switches the channel to Keith’s dismay. “Pidge, do you have chromecast? Let’s just stream some cartoons or something.”

 

Hunk audibly sighs and rubs his forehead. “Excuse me but we’re not here to watch cartoons. We need to get started on this assignment right now. I mean, we’ve already wasted the whole morning and we haven’t even planned anything yet.” He glances over to Pidge, who is playing a game called _Voltron_ on her laptop, and signals for some backup.

 

She shrugs, keeping her eyes glued onto her screen as she clicks her mouse with violent fervour. “Don’t look at me. It’s not _my_ assignment.” She slams her palms onto the table suddenly, nearly causing Keith to spill his drink. “Argh, I just died again! What the hell!”

 

“Careful Pidge, don’t let your gamer rage show.”

 

“What? I don’t have gamer rage!”

 

“You’re raising your voice a few decibels too high now.”

 

“Shut up Hunk! At least I’m being more productive than you lazy asses.”

 

“What - but _you’re_ the one playing computer games!”

 

 _Oh my god_. Keith feels a migraine burrowing into his head as the arguing gets louder. He decides he needs a break from all these jokers and leaves the kitchen to sit near the windowsill by the front door. It’s a little hot inside Pidge’s house and he suspects that it might be from the many electrical appliances that are on – TV, microwave (that is currently making popcorn), two computers and laptops, and the PS4 displaying nothing but the home-screen. He feels a little silly thinking that he might contract something cancerous today.

 

Keith is about to scroll through his emails again when he hears a car pull up into Pidge’s driveway. Thinking that it’s just her parents, he ignores it at first and continues to delete junk mail off his phone. He’s just about to delete some spam mail about _‘Meeting Other Hot Singles’_ when the driver steps out of his car and a familiar-looking head catches Keith’s eye. He would be able to recognise that weird half-buzzcut hairstyle anywhere.

 

_What’s Shiro doing here?_

 

A knock on the door gets him off his butt and scrambling for the doorknob with his sweaty hands. He opens the door and is immediately greeted by a sunny smile.

 

“Keith? Hi there.” Shiro is wearing an unbuttoned black and grey flannel shirt and his school slacks have now been replaced by burgundy chinos that show off his ankles.

 

“Hey.” Keith mentally chastises himself for not saying anything else more intelligent. It’s hard to say more words when they’re caught in your throat.

 

“Uh, is Pidge’s brother here?”

 

“Shiro! Finally!” Pidge calls out from the kitchen. “You have to help me with something! It’s of utmost importance! An emergency!”

 

Shiro now lets himself inside, a look of worry creasing his features. “Pidge? What’s the matter?”

 

“It’s this goddamn boss! I can’t beat him!”

 

Keith closes the door, rolling his eyes once again. He’s kind of surprised his eyes haven’t rolled all the way into his skull because he’s been doing it all throughout the day. The others greet Shiro as he steps foot into the kitchen. Lance and Hunk are somewhat surprised at Shiro’s sudden appearance because what business did a guy who was at least a year older than everyone else have here at Pidge’s place?

 

“Hey, is Matt back yet? I got his message but he didn’t tell me when he’d be finished.”

 

“Oh, yeah he’ll be back later tonight. Mom’s appointment went over-time and he has to run a few more errands for Dad at the company before he comes back, but you’re welcome to hang around until then. Just help me beat the boss,” Pidge adds with a hopeful smirk, sliding the laptop around to let Shiro get a better view of the screen. “I’m up to _Sendak_ and I just can’t get past him.”

 

To Keith’s surprise, Shiro actually takes a seat next to Pidge and quizzically strokes his chin. “Well, have you maxed-out everyone’s social link yet? It’s important to get everyone’s relationship established so that your _Voltron_ form is at full power.”

 

“Heck no, I only did that for the Green Paladin.”

 

“Well, that’s no good then. You should at least maximise the relationship between the Black and Red Paladins because their abilities can hurt _Sendak_ a lot. Red’s sword at full power packs quite a punch and you get a boost of 5 attack if you pair him up with Black.”

 

Keith could see from his peripheral vision that Hunk is raising his eyebrows, and he’s pretty sure that he’s doing the same thing with his own. Who knew that Shiro was such a nerd?

 

 _‘He’s the whole package then_ _\- nerd and a beefcake’,_ Keith thinks but he doesn’t want to admit that he finds those qualities attractive when combined. He nudges Hunk with his elbow, eager to think about something else. “So, should we get started on the assignment?”

 

Hunk pouts a little. “Oh, right. Yeah we should.”

 

\--

 

Lance is the first to give up. He lets out a long, drawn out and exasperated sound, and drops dead on the couch. “Nope, no more, I’m done, finished for the day. My brain is officially fried and my stomach is singing the song of the hungry dead.”

 

Hunk then proceeds to slump onto the table, mentally exhausted from all the researching and note-taking they had been doing. “I’m so hungry right now, I could eat Mr Coran’s diabolical food right now. Or Shay’s rock-hard muffins even….”

 

“Ugh, no,” Lance makes a disgusted noise, “not even I could stomach his food. That lasagna he made during food ec was actually sludge. I mean, how do you accidentally make the mince turn _green_? Is that even something that can happen in real life?” Lance suddenly sits up with a wide grin, “but you know what I can stomach? Pizza!”

 

“Already way ahead of you,” Pidge announces, walking down the staircase with Shiro following close behind her. They had been in Pidge’s room sending off a few emails to the principal about some Student Council stuff. Keith didn’t really know the exact details about it, nor did he really care. “I already called the pizza place. Can someone go with Shiro to pick it up? Shotgun not going!” Pidge instantly raises her index finger to her nose. The gesture is unfamiliar to Keith and he turns to ask Lance what she was doing, but then he finds that Lance is doing the same thing. So is Hunk. Keith follows suit but he does it in such a delayed manner that the silence lingers in the room longer than it needs to.

 

Then Keith finally asks: “Uh, what’s everyone doing?”

 

“Are you serious, mullet?” Lance snorts a little, probably because he’s pushing too hard on his nose with his finger. “Dude, my siblings and I always did this to get out of chores. You’ve seen them do it a thousand times.”

 

“Yeah, but I don’t …” His own voice trails off. Everyone’s eyes are on Keith now, and he feels the embarrassment rise to his cheeks. He doesn’t like to be the centre of attention, especially when he’s the one singled out for something he doesn’t get while everyone else did. “I don’t mind going,” he says instead of asking what it meant. Everyone else lowered their hands at that, a look of relief spreading across their faces, and Shiro gives a subtle nod towards Keith.

 

“Alright, let’s go then.”

 

\----

 

“ _Nose goes_. It’s a game.”

 

“What?” Keith turns his head and looks into Shiro’s brown eyes. They’ve been in his car for a few minutes now - a few minutes of awkward silence and anxious thinking. When Keith had opened the door to the passenger seat, a million thoughts were going through his mind. What could he talk about with Shiro? How could he start the conversation? Was it weird to go pick up pizzas with him when he knew Shiro the least out of everyone in the room? Keith wouldn’t have volunteered to go with Shiro if he knew that it was going to be difficult being in the same place as him - trapped in a car, in this case, with nothing but the sight of dusky buildings outside and the smell of forest-pine air-freshener to keep him calm.

 

“ _Nose goes_ ,” Shiro repeats, “is where the last person who puts their finger to their nose has to do something they don’t want to do. That’s why everyone had their finger to their noses.”

 

“Oh. Okay.” Keith swallows once - twice when he doesn’t know what to say next. He looks out the window on his side, frantically trying to find something to say and not make a fool out of himself. This is why he hated small talk. He just couldn’t for the life of him come up with natural things to say. Most of the things he said usually come off as either blunt, inconsiderate, crass or just unpleasant, and most of the time he never means it to be but he wasn’t good with words or people in general so it often sounded like he was trying to make enemies of everyone. He had to practice a lot with Lance to get to his current level of conversation-making.

 

_Right, Lance and his siblings._

 

“I always saw Lance’s siblings do it,” Keith blurts out, “but I thought it was just something little kids did. Because, y’know, they’re just kids and sometimes kids do things that don’t make sense.”

 

Keith is relieved to hear Shiro utter a sound of agreement. “I totally get what you mean. I’ve worked in after-school care programs before for elementary kids and I swear this generation of kids have the weirdest ways to entertain themselves. Have you heard of _planking_ before?”

 

“Is that the thing where the person lies down like a plank of wood in the most dumbest of all places? It’s so goddamn stupid.” Shiro laughs out loud and Keith can feel the tension easing out of him.

 

“So...are you and Lance BFFs or something?” Shiro asks innocently as he steers the car left.

 

“Heck no!” Keith splutters. He’s is a little offended that Shiro assumes that he and Lance are _Best Friends._ “I mean, we’re friends and all, and I know his family well enough, but we are definitely not BFFs. He’s too loud and annoying.”

 

Shiro’s grin becomes crooked. “Yeah, he may be, but he’s undoubtedly a good guy too y’know? I know for a fact that he’s one of the top donors when it comes to charity events at school. Both he and Hunk have a big heart and they always put others before themselves. Hunk especially though. He participates in a lot of major events and helps with the catering whenever there’s a need for one. I think he’s a better chef than Coran to be honest.”

 

Keith lifts and eyebrow. “How do you know all this? You’re not even in the same class as them.”

 

“I just know,” Keith catches Shiro winking at him before he parks his car at the pizza place. He turns the engine off and leaves his hand on the gear stick. “It’s one of the perks of being in the Student Council. You learn a lot about the students at school - whether they’re kind people with aspirations, or troublemakers who don’t care much about their studies or their future. It’s the Council’s job to keep tabs on the students and know how everyone’s doing at school.”

 

“That’s a lot of students to keep tabs on.”

 

“We have eyes and ears in every classroom,” Shiro crosses his arms and one side of his lip curls upwards, “so you better watch out.”

 

“Are you serious? Is this like _Big Brother is watching you_ or something?”

 

“I’m kidding.” Keith glowers at Shiro whose body is shaking from laughter.

 

 _I can’t believe he just made a joke_. Keith feels the sides of his lips perk up.

 

“Anyway, we try to make improvements in our school programs and events so that the students are more engaged with their school life. School does take up a big chunk of someone’s life so might as well make it a good experience, right? Any concerns regarding a student’s well-being are relayed back to the teachers or principal. That way they can intervene if their situation becomes dire.” Shiro then clamps his mouth shut, his gaze still lingering on Keith. “Have I bored you?”

 

Keith blinks, momentarily dazed. “Huh?”

 

“I’m sorry, I tend to ramble on about things others don’t care about.”

 

Generally, anything that has to do with school matters didn’t really interest Keith, but when Shiro is the one telling him what happens in the Student Council, he makes it sound so much more interesting than it should be and Keith can’t help but listen to him. It helps that Shiro’s voice is so velvety-smooth and deep - so deep that he can feel the vibrations of his voice crawl up his back. Or maybe it’s the only reason why Keith is listening.

 

“I think it’s cool,” he manages to reply to the older teen. “I think it’s really good, what you’re doing. I mean, I could never do what you’re doing because I don’t really care about other people’s affairs, but you’re doing something pretty admirable.”

 

Keith can feel his heart skip a beat as he witnesses a beautiful smile spread across the other’s face. Shiro’s pearly whites are showing and it’s so picture-perfect and _genuin_ e. “Thanks, Keith.” Shiro turns to open the door. “You ready to get those pizzas now?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

\--

 

Lance nibbles on a piece of crust when he nonchalantly asks: “So were your parents drunk when they named you Pidge?” While Shiro and Keith keep a blank face towards the obviously offensive question, Hunk just gapes at his friend incredulously.

 

“Dude, Lance, what are you-”

 

“I mean, I’m pretty sure my parents were drunk when they named me _Lance_ but at least my name’s kinda cool-sounding and heroic - kinda like Sir Lancelot or something. Pidge just sounds like a dinky name, no offence.”

 

Pidge seemingly ignores Lance and picks up another slice of pizza. She takes a bite first before sighing. “It’s a dumb story. Pidge is just a nickname that everyone calls me by. My real name’s Katie.”

 

“Okay, so what’s the story?”

 

“No.” Pidge puts her free hand to her laptop and pretends to do something on it.

 

“Oh, come on, aren’t we all best buddies here?”

 

“Pft, no.”

 

“Please? Pretty please?”

 

“No.”

 

When Lance realizes he isn’t going to get an answer from Pidge, he turns towards Shiro. “You must know the story. You gotta tell us the backstory behind Pidge’s nickname.”

 

“Sorry, it’s Pidge’s story to tell, not mine,” Shiro and Pidge exchange a knowing-look, much to Lance’s chagrin. The brunet didn’t appreciate being excluded from secrets. He’s the type to stick his nose into everything and delights in learning about other people’s secrets.

 

When the older teen returns to giving Pidge some gaming advice, Lance nudges Keith on the arm, hard enough to nearly knock the crust out of his hand. “Dude, you look blissed out. What happened?”

 

“What?” Keith swallows the last bite of pizza and wipes his hand on a napkin. “What are you talking about?”

 

“You seem less...gloomy? Depressed? Emo?”

 

“I’m not emo.”

 

“Well, not anymore anyway.” The brunet playfully punches his friend. “Whatever it is, I’m glad to see you like this man. Maybe we should have more of these ‘study days’. Y’know, get out, smell the fresh air, chill out with other people some more. It has a good effect on you.”

 

Keith raises an eyebrow. He isn’t really sure what his friend is on about. Is he telling him that it’s good that he is socialising more? He isn’t really though. He’s just the same as always - quiet, a little cynical, and his thoughts always leaned towards snark. “I don’t know what you’re going on about. I haven’t changed.”

 

“Trust me, hermano. Your expression and demeanor - your _aura_ is just different today. I can tell because I’ve been around you for like half my life so I’m gonna pick up on these things Keith.”

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Maybe you just want to feel smarter and more observant or whatever. Since you’re an idiot most of the time.”

 

“Excuse me, I am _not_ an idiot!”

 

“Sometimes he is actually,” Hunk whispers to Keith, but loud enough so that Lance can also hear, causing him to react immaturely. He flings his arms over his head with a ‘I-don’t-believe-you-said-that’ look on his face and stands up abruptly, knocking a glass out of Shiro’s hand. Everybody in the room spontaneously makes some sort of noise - Pidge making the loudest shriek of them all because the drink nearly spills on her precious piece of technology. Nearly, because Shiro made sure to shield her laptop with his body.

 

“Lance! Watch it!” Pidge closes her laptop and grabs a bunch of napkins. “If it weren’t for Shiro, you’d be paying for the repairs.”

 

“See? He’s an idiot sometimes.” Hunk nods to himself and proceeds to help Pidge clean the carpet. He takes a good look at Shiro’s soaked shirt as he crawls forward. “You might need to wash that first. That was soda after all. Or you could make Lance pay for dry cleaning, hah. Lance don’t look at me like that. It was your fault.”

 

“What! I--”

 

Shiro raises his hands up. “Now, now Hunk. It’s nobody’s fault. It was just an accident. I’m sure Lance didn’t purposely intend to unleash the wrath of Pidge. I’ll just get myself cleaned up and then we can play a few board games or something. Don’t worry about it Lance,” he says before he gets up, hugging the napkins close to his body. Keith watches the broad back as Shiro leaves the living room and he feels somewhat compelled to follow, but he feels his feet are anchored down by something emotional. He hears Lance calling out apologies and blaming Hunk for making him react immaturely, and suddenly Keith is propelled forward.

 

“Wait, let me help.” Keith follows after him and instantly regrets it when he sees Shiro turn around. His smile brings Keith’s heart to a stop and he suddenly feels like retracing his steps back into the living room but he wants to try to communicate more with Shiro so he forces himself to say something. “Lance _is_ an idiot. And he’s spilled tonnes of drinks on me in the past.”

 

After a snicker and a smirk later, they are standing around the sink in the bathroom with the tap turned on. Shiro takes off his outer shirt and starts rinsing out the soda. Neither of them exchange any words, letting the sound of running water fill the air, and it becomes a little awkward. How could Keith bring himself to speak when he’s so distracted by how tight that black shirt looked on Shiro.

 

“Keith? Are you with me buddy?”

 

Keith looks up and finds himself staring into Shiro’s brown eyes before he realizes that he was waiting for an answer. “What?”

 

“I asked you a question.”

 

 _Sorry, I was too into your black shirt._ “Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

 

“How do you and Lance know each other? He said he knew you for half his life back there so I thought you guys were childhood friends maybe?”

 

“Uh, yeah we kinda are I guess.” Keith sits on the side of the bath tub. He places loose fists onto his thighs and repeatedly clenches and unclenches them a few times before he’s comfortable enough to continue. “I’m kinda his unofficial brother actually.”

 

This gets Shiro’s complete attention now. He sees him turn off the tap, all the while keeping his eyes on the younger boy. “Are you a part of his family? Like an adopted sibling of his?”

 

Keith hesitates to answer. He didn’t like to talk about himself because he didn’t believe people really cared - they only asked questions just for the sake of asking questions, but when he sees Shiro look at him with genuine interest plastered all over his face, Keith finds it difficult to say no to it. “Lance’s family used to be my neighbours when I was a kid and they kinda started looking after me more when...well, when my parents couldn’t.”

 

“Oh…” the older teen takes a seat next to him on the rim of the bathtub, his eyes searching Keith’s for an emotion that probably wasn’t there. Keith could imagine the cogs in Shiro’s head working feverishly together to come up with words that didn’t offend. “Is this something you want to talk about?”

 

Keith smiled at Shiro’s consideration. “I don’t usually talk about this kinda stuff to be honest. I don’t even talk to Lance about it much.”

 

“You don’t have to say anything you’re not comfortable with.”

 

“Sorry.”

 

Keith feels a firm hand on his shoulder and he almost flinches away before Shiro squeezes him. “Hey, don’t worry about it. Everyone has a secret or two they don’t want to talk about. Even Pidge, Lance, Hunk. Maybe even me.” Shiro winks and his lips quirk up. He lets go of Keith’s shoulder and returns to the sink. He adds: “but if you wanna talk about it, you know where to find me.”


End file.
